As it turns out, my recent foray into the Snitkoff garage yielded far more than space for a second car. Among the items: All the beloved toys I thought had been donated to Goodwill or given to younger relatives long ago. Sure, various Star Trek ships and Star Wars X-Wings were in the collection, but the real prizes were the many die-cast cars that I thought had vanished forever.

So where do I start? It’s a fairly decent collection, so perhaps the easiest way to arrange these pictures of this reservoir of memories is according to their real-life manufacturers.

First, the Fords. That red Mustang on the right was one of my most beloved Hot Wheels until the rear suspension gave out. The slightly less-red replaced it, and it also was used extensively. The gold one never got much love from me, but is included nonetheless.

I had to provide some context for my 1992 Ford Mustang Mach III concept vehicle. But let’s be honest: What’s pictured above is really a 1996 Taurus convertible, right?

OMG, is this a Ford Sierra Merkur XR4Ti? I have no idea who produced these; underneath, it simply reads “CHINA,” whatever that means.

More Ford vehicles: The Bronco, while lovingly used, might have been left at my house by a forgetful playmate who would never see it again. Oh, well. Otherwise, I believe the Probe, the Thunderbird and the (alleged) Mustang all were purchased by one of my parents.

The Mercedes collection: Fond memories of the blue limo, which has a retractable moon roof! For me, the bright-pink 190E was a must-have–I remember pleading for it during a trip to the Danbury Mall. I just had to acquire the baby Benz in that cool color scheme.

And now, the GM collection: Forget the car carrier and the limo to the upper left. Try to avert your eyes from the two Thunderbirds, which I mistook for early Corvettes (feel free to castigate me in the comments section). Those two alligator-colored ’57 Chevys were Happy Meal toys. Really, does anyone still give out play things of such quality? I have no idea, but my guess is that they don’t. Wait a tick–what’s up with those oddly-finished things in the back?

Four Corvettes, two Hummers and one Firebird, all from a special Taco Bell promotion. The shade of red on those cars reminds me of the spicy sauce I’d put on their tacos. When I was in eighth grade, one very bad week (which involved many unwanted bowel movements) put a stop to my patronage of that particular establishment.

I hope those two sedans up front are Dodge Monacos; otherwise, I’m really going to upset a lot of people here. Anyway, this is my stock of Chrysler vehicles. As a youngster growing up in the early ’90s, I must have been required by the state of New York to own at least one die-cast Viper. The Ram? Purchased after seeing 1996’s Twister, of course. I believe the hoodless Daytona became mine after I failed to report its whereabouts to my friend after a play session.

And now, my paltry assemblage of Toyota vehicles: The pickup resembles the truck in every Pixar picture. I don’t remember playing with it very often. The MR2s, however, were bestowed upon me by a very friendly appliance repairman. I can still remember the waves of joy and surprise I felt when he handed them to me.

And now for the odd bunch: Unlike the others, none of these is 1/64 scale. That Chevy pickup, which might be my first-ever toy car, accompanied me on the journey to get my tonsils taken out. A label on the side says “Two for Five,” but wouldn’t $2.50 be pretty expensive in the early ’90s? It sure doesn’t feel worth that sum in today’s dollars. Anyway, the rest of these vehicles definitely were bought at the same annual county fair where I always got the larger cars. Here you’ve got a first-gen Ford Explorer, a Dodge Caravan (with the previously shown roof label confirming its purchase at the 1992 fair), and the highly detailed ’97 F-Series, which may actually the last automobile purchased by my parents’ disposable income, as it was all Star Wars, Star Trek and various Japanese anime after that. And don’t even get me started on Pokemon. Can you guess the make of the limo?

My various luxury makes: I loved all three of them very much and, true to its nature, the Range Rover went off-roading quite a bit. That’s probably why the windows are so fogged up.

To invoke a cliche, I’ve saved the best for last. These two are the most prized toy cars in my collection by far. Let me explain why.

That’s my sister being characteristically sassy. And behind her a 1986 Golf, in which my Dad used to commute 120 miles round-trip, five days a week, just to put food on the table (and toy cars on my pretend roads). I’ll probably elaborate on it in a future COAL post, but for now I’ll tell you that I remember making the real-world connection with my toy version, much to my father’s elation. If you’re wondering, there’s a K-car–a Reliant, I think–sharing the garage with the Volkswagen. In any case, the toys were comforting when Dad wasn’t home; they were a reminder of the technology that got him around and brought him back home to me and the rest of my family every single day.

And as you’re reading this, I’m likely sitting down being interviewed for a job, one that promises a commute of my own. After that? A girl? Wife? Family? House? The Circle Of Life will continue, and I’ll have these toys somewhere nearby; no matter what the future portends.

22 Comments

Funny, I have that same Chevy with the alligators on it. It was abandoned in a test lab at work and somehow wound up with my stuff when we moved offices a number of years ago. It’s lived on my desk ever since. I always kind of wondered where it came from. It’s still not clear to me why it has alligators on it.

Your find reminds me of an old green-painted beer case (from when the long neck bottles were returnable) that sits back in a corner of my basement. It is full of my old toy cars. I need to get it out and see what is there.

It is interesting to look at the toy cars from any given era. Most of them either seem to be the cars that appeal to 8 year olds, or the cars that appeal to 8 year olds’ dads. You got a lot of Mercedes, while I (back in the 60s-early 70s) can only recall maybe two different MBs that ever made it into my possession, one of which was a Corgi 600 limo.

I had hundreds when i was a kid, no this is the only one I got.
I got this one as a gift, from a friend at work, since she was alwas asking me what i want for christmas, and I told her a porsche,
I was expecting a 911 hotwheels, but she found this 914…

I had those Taco Bell cars (in fact I think I still have them somewhere), a whole set of World Cup ’94 cars, and a bunch of Police/Ambulance vehicles.

I sold most of my die-cast cars, Star Trek, Ghostbusters, Robocop, Atari, Sega, and Batman stuff years ago at a garage sale for cut rate prices. Which was very stupid, because some of that stuff commands decent prices on Ebay these days or has personal nostaglic value.

That nice blue F-Series is about 1/43, good for O scale trains. For that reason, my cars that size are still around while the little ones are lost or broken.

I like the family tie-in at the end, Ed. My Dad traveled a lot when I was a kid and I think that drove my attachment to the cars, trucks and trains that reminded me of him.

It works the other way too. My then-preschool son used to like “driving” my O scale cars by bearing down on them, pushing them around and making motor noises. I can tell his favorites because their axles are bent which kinda ruins the ride. Wouldn’t trade them for anything!

I think that was part of some sort of special series that Hot Wheels was doing at the time. If you look at the GM section of my cars, the Thunderbird has the same scheme. Best part about the paint job? No scratches whatsoever, and I played with those alot.

I have that same “checkerboard” Monaco. It was a special series that came with an embossed body–if I remember correctly, the body was plastic, not metal.

Nice selection Ed. I have most of those cars, but my Range Rover, M3 cabrio and ’65 Mustangs are mint, since I was 10-12 when I got them. But if you looked at my late ’70s Lesney Mercury Cougar Villager, Pocket Cars Lincoln Mark IV, Fleetwood Brougham and Cadillac ambulance (I was probably 2-3 when I got them), they’re pretty rough, as they were my favorites. I still have all four though.

I’m digging the Jealous Guy lyrics! Also digging the Mustang Mach III/Taurus convertible theory – I buy into it! The Ford Sierra/Merkur XR4Ti is a bit scary looking – I’m assuming the model was designed by someone who only ever saw an XR4i in a picture. Mind you I have several of the Matchbox XR4is, and their quality varies wildly. I have the beautiful magenta Matchbox Jag XJ40 too, but other than that your collection is full of interesting and unfamiliar models!

My die-cast collection has mostly disappeared over the decades, but part of my familiarity with British cars (at least more than most American kids) came from my Dinky Toys and Corgis, as well as Matchbox of course, acquired in the ’60’s and early ’70’s. Of course, I vaguely remember a few Hubleys and Tootsietoys as well. Most of the latter were doused in lighter fluid, stuffed with firecrackers and then lit …. I’m glad yours survived!

I have a rather large collection of Hot Wheels myself, some of which are still in the box. The in box ones are from my early teens when I became more interested in them as collectibles rather than toys but there are plenty of open ones too. I recall the white/pink Mr2 as I had that one too but I think my brother has it now. The green ram I have somewhere and that one is in the box for sure.